


Trinkets

by JMount74



Series: Fluffember 2020 [17]
Category: Thunderbirds
Genre: Fluff, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-17
Updated: 2020-11-17
Packaged: 2021-03-10 06:16:37
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,677
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27608873
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/JMount74/pseuds/JMount74
Summary: Scott has a box, and it has Alan's name on it.
Series: Fluffember 2020 [17]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1997284
Comments: 12
Kudos: 30





	Trinkets

He was exhausted. He and his brothers had partied hard. Well, as hard as one could on a tropical island where a call-out could be imminent: BBQ – thank you dad, chocolate cake and apple pie – thank you Kayo, and plenty of hot cocoa with cream and marshmallows – thank you MAX.

His graduation party. Alan couldn’t believe that he’d actually finished school, that his Grandma and Dad had organised a BBQ-come-Pool Party completely without him knowing, but he had had a sneaking suspicion that the rescue he and Scott had been sent out on had been a set up. It had been too easy at the time, and Scott had been trying too hard not to grin all the while. He thought his oldest brother had a massive case of gas.

But they got back to a party. And the party lasted for hours! A kinda joint party for his dad as well, although none of them mentioned it. And yeah – his dad wore that shirt.

Alan didn’t really remember the shirt too much, he’d only just turned three when their mom died and the shirt went away, so it didn’t have the same meaning as it did to the rest of his brothers. And led him to now.

Now the party was over and everything had been cleared away (thanks to MAX, none of them were really up to that) Alan was beginning to feel melancholy.

It wasn’t anyone’s fault.  
But he missed…not his mom per se, but he missed having the memories his brothers had. Alan knew that none of his brothers had graduated with their mom alive, and he couldn’t quite work out why today of all days he felt…he felt left out.

Alan decided that a walk along the shore while there was still a little light might soothe his spirit, borrowing this idea from Virgil, a frequenter of moonlit beach walks. He hadn’t gone far before he came to realisation that he just wasn’t feeling this. If anything, it was making him feel worse.

He couldn’t miss a mom he did not remember, but he could miss the heart-warming tales his brothers spun for him of how wonderful his mother was and how much she loved him. Maybe it was Gordon’s fault, discussing with them earlier how that awful blue and pink monstrosity of a shirt had made him retrospective.

He turned around and headed back to his room. Passing Scott’s door, he nearly had a heart attack when it opened suddenly. Of course, he tried hard not to show his fright, but the smirk on Scott’s face told him it had been too obvious.

‘Ah, Alan. I was just going to get you.’

Really? Alan looked at his brother, unsure why he even felt sceptical at this. Maybe it was the parcel under his arm, or the abruptness that Scott had appeared. It just seemed sus.

‘Ok, Scott. I’m here.’  
‘Come on, we’re late.’

Late? Late for what? But instead of giving Alan a chance to answer, Scott grabbed his arm and practically dragged him to the movie room. Alan was a little surprised to find all his brothers there, sitting in what could only be a cushion fort surrounding the screen.

Grinning from ear to ear, he entered after Scott and sat in the middle, the only space available. There was not much room, everyone’s knees were touching in the semicircle they were sitting in, and he felt a little squashed in with his back against couch – not that he minded at all. 

There was a pause. Alan looked from one to the other, and they all looked serious, so he frowned, wondering what was going on. But then Scott cleared his throat.

‘Alan. You are our youngest brother, and we wouldn’t change you for the world. Our Mom started a keepsake box for each of us when we were born with the intention of giving them to us on our 18th birthday. Unfortunately, we were in space for yours, and the time just hasn’t been right for us all to be together to hand this over to you.

This box contains a number of trinkets and keepsakes we have collected over the years for you, keeping up Mom’s tradition.’

Alan swallowed. This was the last thing he would have expected, and the thought that his Mom had started his personally brought a lump to his throat. He accepted the parcel from Scott as John started speaking.

‘Each of us has had our own box, and we have taken great joy over the years in secretly collecting objects for yours. Each object has a special meaning or memory for us with you.’

‘As you open up the box and go through the treasures, we will explain what each one means and the memories attached,’ Virgil added.

‘And once we’ve finished, there is a small video clip to watch,’ completed Gordon.

He felt like crying already, and he hadn’t even looked at anything. Gordon nudged the box of tissues his way – they had come prepared. Alan carefully removed the red wrapping and opened the box.

A child’s teething ring, in the shape of a rocket. This, his brothers explained to him, was his first present from John.  
His first tooth in a small silver box along with his first curl in a matching box.  
A slightly faded and dogeared picture of his mom holding him while he blew out his first birthday candle.  
A small chewed book on space.  
A picture that was just red scrappy lines. Virgil had laminated it to keep it whole.  
A birthday card he had made for his dad when he was five. It had a red rocket on.  
His first report card.  
A scrappy teddy that looked like a cat.  
The pedal from off his first bike.  
His favourite racing car toy.  
A deflated swim ring decorated with squid. No need to guess where that had come from.  
His cast from his forearm when he broke it aged four. It had been painted by Virgil.  
A tie. His first school uniform.  
A surprisingly small pair of Converse Allstars.  
A hospital name band from when he was nine and needed his appendix out.  
His last report card before he was home-schooled.  
A picture of him in the sim of Three, tongue sticking out in concentration.

In fact, there were several pictures, all of him with John, Virgil, or Gordon. When he asked where Scott was they told him Scott was the one taking the picture. No-one needed to ask why his dad was in barely a handful. There were quite a few with his mother holding him, helping him to walk and laughing at whatever was going on.

There was only one picture with him and Scott. One where he was walking towards Scott’s outstretched arms, and the look of delight on a ten-year-old Scott was priceless.

At the bottom was a small silver bracelet with a matching black leather one. The silver band was etched with Alan’s birthdate. The leather one had three charms on it. A rocket, a racing car and a skateboard, all tastefully crafted in silver.

The bracelets confused Alan, as his mom hadn’t been around long enough to know his future likes, but one glance at his brothers and he knew exactly where they had come from.

Scott was not the sort of person to announce to the world when he did something for his family. Often he gave completely random but perfect gifts to them all, and he waved away any thanks as if it was nothing at all. It was clear by how quiet he was, how red the tips of his ears had gone and by the fact he couldn’t seem to look Alan in the eye, that most of this had been his idea.

And, if Alan really thought about it, that made perfect sense. After all, once their mom had passed it was Scott that took up the void left by the loss of their Grandfather, Mother and Father. And it would have been Scott who would have understood the importance of these boxes and kept them going.

No wonder they had not done this in front of their father.

Seeing that Scott was not going to meet his eye, Alan launched himself at his oldest brother, with a wink to Gordon who accepted that as an invitation to join in. Soon there was a Tracy puppy pile, with Scott on the bottom, Alan on his right and Virgil on his left, Gordon over all three of them and John sitting slightly behind Alan with his arm around the kid’s shoulders.

They settled down to watch the home video.  
It was Alan’s first birthday party.

His dad was filming and his mom was there. Talking to the camera, putting food and cake out, rapping Virgil’s knuckles as he tried to sneak a cup cake. Talking to him with such a beautiful voice full of love. Alan could hear it. John had Alan on his lap, helping him to unwrap his present – that book on space – which promptly went into Alan’s mouth to the horror of John. Virgil had given him the cat teddy, which was his favourite red colour. Gordon had given him the ring float and matching armbands. Scott had bought him the Allstars.

They watched, transfixed by their wonderful mother as she corralled them and fed them and fussed over them. It was a video full of noise and bustle and love.

There were no dry eyes in the fort.

Alan looked down at the trinkets his brothers had collected and kept for him, and his heart filled with such love and gratitude for them. How on earth did he manage to get four brothers who were as wonderful as they were?

His eyes returned to the now-paused image of his mother holding him. She must have been something extra special to have produced such a fantastic family with his dad.

And tonight, he felt happy, he felt content and he felt loved.

**Author's Note:**

> Mentions of 'That Shirt' and Gordon talking about it are from Sky


End file.
